System and method for time-shifted program viewing

ABSTRACT

A system and method for time-shifted viewing of broadcast television programs is disclosed. Simultaneous recording and playback are provided by using buffer storage as the source and destination of compressed or uncompressed digital video/audio programs. Full VCR-like control is provided for all playback within the buffer storage. Playback and control of recorded programs may be initiated by the user at any time after initiation of the broadcast program with simultaneous continuous recording of the ongoing live broadcast. Larger archival storage and removable is also provided for storing and building a library of programs. Viewer playback control data may be stored as part of the program or used as edit points prior to archival. Numerous options are provided for features such as continuous automatic recording in a circular buffer fashion, program archival, editing, Internet interfaces, multiple-channel recording and more.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. §120 as a Continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/833,863, filed Aug. 3, 2007,which is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/073,452,filed May 6, 1998, the entire contents of each of which are herebyincorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. The Applicanthereby rescinds any disclaimer of claim scope in the parentapplication(s) or the prosecution history thereof and advise the USPTOthat the claims in this application may be broader than any claim in theparent application(s).

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention is related to the field of broadcast television in allits forms. This includes but is not limited to over-the-air broadcast,cable TV, and satellite TV. The primary focus is the broadcast paradigm,whereby programs are scheduled by the broadcaster and broadcast inreal-time whereupon viewers may tune in to the program. This inventionrelates in particular to a device which allows users much greaterflexibility in their reception and use of this programming.

BACKGROUND

VCRs are one example of an earlier technology that relates to the use ofbroadcast programs. Using VCRs, viewers were able to record a programand play it back at their leisure, perhaps at another time.Additionally, for the first time viewers were offered limited controlover the viewing. The user could pause, rewind, fast-forward and stopand re-start viewing at any time after the initial recording wascomplete. The broadcast program was essentially captured in an analogmedium for later use.

Some of the limitations of a VCR which the present invention addressesare: simultaneous record and playback from the same medium are notavailable; the device records only one, or at the most two, channels ata time; and a removable medium, namely magnetic tape, is required.

This invention relates in a similar fashion to the broadcast televisionindustry but offers new and unique features not found in VCRs or anyother video/audio-programming-based device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objects of the present invention include, but are not limited to thefollowing: It is one object of the invention to facilitate recording ofa program and allow viewing of the already-recorded material to takeplace while the program recording continues. It is another object of theinvention to allow this simultaneous record/playback to take place onone or more channels simultaneously. It is another object of theinvention to record using digital storage in many forms, using eitherinternal or external mediums. It is another object of this invention toprovide a ‘save’ function which incorporates semi-permanent digitalstorage of the recorded program as a function distinct from thesimultaneous recording and playback of the program. It is another objectof the invention to allow complete VCR-like control during playback. Itis another object of this invention to allow the ‘save’ function to saveedited versions of the program as defined by the playback commands usedduring viewing.

With the advent of digital video components, it is now possible todigitize, compress and store entire video programs using a variety ofdigital storage devices such as disk, digital tape, RAM, CD-ROM, DVD(Digital Versatile Disk or Digital Video Disk) and others.

In the present invention, the system may be connected to a conventionalvideo source such as broadcast TV, cable TV, satellite TV, VCR and soforth. In most cases, the video signal is in a standard RF-modulatedanalog format such as NTSC, PAL or SECAM. In the case of a modulatedvideo source such as broadcast TV or cable TV, the signal is firstdemodulated to tune to a specific channel. This is performed by aconventional tuner such as those found in VCRs and TVs. The tuner may beused to tune into one or more channels simultaneously and more than onetuner may be included in the system. Digital inputs are also providedand will be described shortly.

In the case of an incoming analog video signal, the signal is thendigitized and optionally compressed using a conventional video captureboard or video capture chip sets integrated into the system. Thiscapture hardware accepts a video input, digitizes the video/audioprogram, optionally compresses the quantity of digital data and outputsa digital data stream which can be stored using any digital storagemedia.

In variations of the preferred embodiment, the incoming video signal mayalready be in a digital format and thus not require digitization (suchas a High-Definition Television (HDTV), Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS)signal, or Internet-based broadcasts). Further, the source digitalsignal or the digitized analog signal may or may not be compressed. Thecompression method used may vary and is of little consequence to thepresent invention, which can use uncompressed digital data or compresseddata. However, the current common compressed digital formats includeMPEG and AVI formats. For the present invention, the selection of thevideo capture board or chip sets (and the compressed digital format ituses) is relevant only to the quality of the video playback and thecorresponding amount of digital storage required.

It is envisioned that the embodiments will vary depending on the desiredquality and cost constraints for the storage media. In a relativelyinexpensive consumer device, for example, a cost-efficient MPEG-1 andinexpensive four-Gigabyte hard drive might currently be used. On theother hand, a professional application might currently use MPEG-2 andRAM for very high quality along with very fast access.

An important consideration regarding the selection of the video captureboard and the storage media is that the data rate for writing to thedigital storage must exceed the output rate of the video capturehardware. For example, if MPEG-1 is the selected compression method andthe output rate of the capture/compression hardware is therefore 15Mbits/second, then the sustained data rate for writing to digitalstorage must be greater than 15 Mbits/second or else data will be lost.Also, compression/decompression may take place via software algorithmsimplemented by the system's main CPU or in dedicatedcompression/decompression processors. Cable converter boxes, commonlyknown as “set-top” boxes provide decoding of compressed digital videostreams. In such a case one embodiment of the present invention includesa provision for using the set-top box for providing thecompression/decompression for the system.

Dual-Port Circular Buffer Storage

A key aspect of the present invention is its use of FIFO dual-portstorage. Digital storage systems are most commonly used in an off-linemode, that is, data is written and the data is read at some later time.For example, in a video compression and playback system, the compresseddigital data would likely be written to disk during recording and, afterthe recording process has been completed, the data could be read forplayback. In this sense, storage is used as an archive—even if thearchive will be used moments later, the process of storing all the datamust be completed before the data is used.

In contrast, the present invention is designed to be dual-ported, thatis, to be accessed for writing and reading simultaneously on the samemedia. In this manner, at any time after the process of capturing,optionally compressing and storage has begun, the program is alsoaccessible for reading, decompression, playback and other functions.This can also occur while the recording process is continuing to storedata using a separate and distinct section of the same storage medium.

Additionally, the storage medium in the system is designed as a FIFO,which is a commonly understood acronym in the art which stands for FirstIn First Out. FIFO storage is essentially used as a circular buffer. Thefirst data written into this circular buffer is the first data which isoverwritten. For brevity, the terms ‘buffer storage’ or ‘buffer’ may beused herein, but the term always refers to this dual-port circularbuffer storage unless otherwise noted.

In an example of the preferred embodiment, the use of this bufferstorage is also taken a step further. In this embodiment, once thestorage medium has been filled, the oldest data, which is the first datato have entered the FIFO, is pushed out—it is overwritten with the newdata. In this manner, the buffer storage is constantly filled with thelatest recorded material. The total amount of storage in the bufferdetermines the extents of VCR-like control for rewind and fast-forward.Alternatively, only a designated amount of the total storage may be usedfor recording, leaving storage available for other features of thesystem. In any case, this FIFO dual-port storage will be referred toherein as buffer storage. Buffer storage is always the storage used toprovide direct access for the viewer to control playback of the recordedmaterial.

Circular Buffer Example

In the example of the preferred embodiment, consider the scenario for 30minutes of buffer storage and the viewer wishing to begin viewing of atwo-hour program fifteen minutes after the scheduled broadcast starttime of 8:00 p.m. At 8:00 p.m. the system begins recording the broadcastprogram. This may occur due to a timer previously set by the user or itmay occur because the system is set to continuously record. Furthermore,the system may have been recording continuously for some time. However,in order to illustrate the nature of the dual-port circular buffer, inthe present example we consider the case where the present invention hasjust been turned on and the buffer has been initially empty.

Recording of the broadcast program begins at 8:00 p.m. At 8:15 p.m. theuser begins viewing the 8:00 p.m. material. Simultaneously, the presentinvention continues to record the currently-broadcast 8:15 material. At8:30 the buffer storage is completely filled. Consequently, the oldestmaterial, namely 8:00, is overwritten with the current 8:30 material.This process continues indefinitely, and effectively, the viewer hastime-shifted their viewing by 15 minutes in the present example. Theuser may time-shift up to the maximum buffer storage size configured inthe system, which in the present example would be 30 minutes.

Because of the aforementioned 15-minute time-shift the viewer may nowexercise VCR-like control features on the already-recorded material. Soin the present example, the viewer could fast-forward past commercialsor any objectionable material. Pause, stop and rewind features are alsoavailable, enabling the viewer to re-watch a segment or to pause theplayback for a phone call or other interruption.

Catching Up to Live Broadcast

If the viewer were to fast-forward through the full buffer of recordedmaterial, they would be caught up to the live broadcast. When thisoccurs, the present invention may switch directly to the live feedwithout processing the input video through the usual capture andcompression. In a further embodiment, even the input video stream (whichis the ‘live’ feed) may be processed through capture and compression ifso desired. Note that in such a scenario only pause and rewind featureswould be available because no material is available in the buffer forfast-forwarding.

Do-not-Overwrite Mode

In one use of the present invention, the user may be watching videoplayback at the same rate at which new data is being recorded. Assumingthat in the time between initiating recording and playback, the bufferstorage has not already been filled up, it will in fact never get filledup because data is being removed at the same rate at which it is beingadded.

However, in another scenario, the user may not watch video playback atall during the recording process. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the buffer storage is simply allowed to fill up and therecording process stops. In such an embodiment, it is the user'sresponsibility to recognize the limited amount of buffer storage in thesystem and use the system accordingly.

Consider the embodiment whereby the system is designed to store twohours of video from one or more channels and is not set to overwrite anyrecorded data. In such a case, the recording process acts much like aconventional VCR—two hours of programming are recorded and when thestorage media is filled, recording stops. However, the presentinvention, even in this particular embodiment has several uniqueadvantages over a VCR. Programming viewing and control, by virtue of thedigital data, is entirely random-access. The user may almostinstantaneously skip to any desired portion of the program. Furthermore,even though the recording process stopped when storage was filled, onceplayback begins, the user may record new material while viewing the twohours of previously recorded material.

Partial Summary of Unique Features

The aforementioned features in essence return control of viewing to theviewer, who is no longer forced to view objectionable broadcast materialor to adhere strictly to the broadcast schedules. Complete control isreturned to the viewer, especially for real-time broadcasts. To achievethis control, the viewer need only slightly delay their viewing from thenormally-scheduled broadcast start time. Once the present invention'sFIFO dual-port storage has recorded some portion of the programming, theviewer has complete VCR-like control over the slightly-delayed butreal-time broadcast, without having to wait for the entire program to berecorded.

Multiple-Channel Device

To complete the paradigm shift into viewer-controlled broadcasttelevision viewing, one embodiment of the present invention performs allof the aforementioned functions simultaneously on many channels. In thismanner, the viewer may literally scan through, watch, or store one ormore of the channels, with all of the aforementioned features. In suchan embodiment, multiple video capture compression/decompression cardswould be required, or cards that are designed to accommodate more thanone video input stream.

Multiple input streams may be realized through multiple tuners withmultiple output streams to one or more storage devices or through asingle tuner with multiple output streams to one or more storagedevices. The total aggregate bandwidth of data to be stored might alsorequire faster storage media. Certainly RAM-based systems could handlesuch bandwidths and write speeds.

In a disk-based embodiment, high-speed disk drives such as RAID drivescan accommodate the higher bandwidths. The total required bandwidth inany embodiment is determined by the output data rate of each videocapture/compression card, chipset or software data stream. By varyingthe quality of the video, the compression method or the videoresolution, the bandwidth may be adjusted to suit the application.

In some cases, these and other parameters of the videocapture/compression hardware or software are adjustable, thus allowingthe output data rate to be adjusted. In other cases, this adjustment ismade merely by the selection of the desired compression/decompressionhardware or software versus another. In one embodiment thisconfigurability is tied directly to the content provider. For example,certain movies may include a command which is recognized by the presentinvention and is used to set (at the user's discretion) thecompression/decompression quality to a higher-than-usual level.

Archival and ‘Save’ Features

Another feature of the present invention is its ability to off-load thebuffer storage onto other more permanent media for either internal orexternal archival. For example, a RAM-only embodiment may also beconfigured with one or more other digital storage devices, such ashard-disk or recordable DVD. At any time, even automatically duringrecording and/or playback, the contents of the buffer storage may beselectively or continuously transferred or duplicated to these archivestorage devices in order to retain a copy of the program.

In some embodiments, the viewer will transfer the program to removablemedia such as DVD disc in order for it to be used in another device,including another of the present invention. In this manner, viewers canbuild a ‘library’ of recorded material much like is currentlyaccomplished with conventional VCRs. Such archival may occur at anytime, including before, during or after the viewing of the storedmaterial. In one embodiment, archival occurs as a user-selected transferfrom the main storage to archival storage. In another embodimentprogramming is continuously recorded on the larger archival storage inaddition to the main storage.

The present invention, however, offers several additional advantagesover the traditional analog-tape VCR library. First, due to the digitalnature of the data, many different embodiments are envisioned utilizingdifferent types of digital storage media. In some embodiments, multipletypes of storage media may be used, offering different levels ofoff-line or on-line storage and allowing the user to account for thevarious cost and physical considerations of the stored media type.Archival storage may be implemented as distinct devices separate fromthe buffer storage or as an allocation of one large storage device, withone portion designated and used as buffer storage and another asarchival storage.

Another unique feature of the storage characteristics of the presentinvention is that the aforementioned archival functions may be initiatedat any time including after the program has been viewed in it's entiretyfrom the buffer storage. For example, in a RAM-based embodiment, theuser may elect to transfer the entire contents of the program from RAMto hard disk, while playback and recording continue, or the user mayalso elect to transfer after viewing from RAM is complete. The onlycaveat in this process is that the user must consider the overwriting,circular buffer nature of the buffer storage and that the oldestmaterial is overwritten when the allocated amount of storage becomesfull. For this reason, this overwriting feature as well as all featuresof the system may be user-configurable. Other examples of archivalstorage mediums, both internal and external, include but are not limitedto: hard disk, removable hard disk, tape, optical disk, DVD or any otherdigital storage medium.

Save-with-Edits Feature

Another unique feature of the storage characteristics of the presentinvention is that the aforementioned archival functions may includeinterpretation of the playback control as edit events, thus modifyingthe copy of the program which is to be archived. For example, a user mayrecord a TV movie, fast-forwarding past each commercial. Upon storingthe viewed program, the user may elect to interpret the fast-forwardingor similar control in several ways.

First, it may be taken literally, with the archived program including acontrol code for ‘last-forward.’ Upon playback, this control could beinterpreted and executed by the playback control software, therebyresulting in the playback of the program exactly as the viewer watchedit, fast-forwards and all. A second manner of interpreting thefast-forward could be as an edit point, the implication being that sincethe user fast-forwarded past a portion of the program they did not wantto view it and therefore that portion of the program need not bearchived at all. In such a mode, upon playback the video wouldseamlessly skip past the fast-forwarded portion of the program since itwas not recorded in the archive at all. And in a third manner ofinterpreting the fast-forward or other playback controls, these controlsmay not be recorded in archive at all, i.e. they may be ignored,implying that the user desires to have brand-new control over the videoat playback time.

Demographic and Viewing Habits Data Collection

A further feature of the present invention is that all of theaforementioned VCR-like control features may be stored as datarepresenting the viewer control. In other words, all of the viewercontrol such as fast-forward, play and pause are captured as data. Thisviewer control data may be used in a number of ways, including storagealong with the archived program as described previously.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a modem is provided forcommunication to other similar devices or to computers via networkcommunication channels, such as phone lines, cable modems, andsatellite. In such an embodiment, at the election of the viewer, theviewer control data may be provided to a central computer for storage.The data may later be analyzed by advertisers, broadcasters, ratingscompanies and so forth to receive indirect feedback from viewersregarding viewing preferences. This same communication channel may beused to transmit software upgrades to the invention, remote diagnostics,billing data or pay-per-view locking/unlocking by the content provider.In another embodiment, the modem may be replaced by a fastercommunications device such as a satellite receiver, Internet connectionor so forth.

Network-Controlled Configurability

The aforementioned network communication channels are also used inanother unique way. Since these channels provide a link to othercomputers, possibly on the Internet, this connection may be used toautomatically set the configuration of the system from these computers.For example, in an embodiment connected to the Internet, the system alsoincludes basic computer components sufficient to interact with theWorld-Wide Web.

Besides the network communications channel the system also includes avideo graphics card and one or more user-interface devices which mayinclude but are not limited to: a mouse, touchpad, keyboard, trackball,remote control or voice control. With this Web-based connection, contentproviders or third parties may link Web pages to interact with thepresent invention. For example, a third party may offer pay-per-viewprograms, wherein the program may be ordered via the Web, and dataprovided via the Web so the present invention can set parameters such asrecord timers, video quality settings, channel tuning and so forth. TheWeb site may provide additional data about the offered program to aidthe users in selecting programs, such as plot summaries, ratings, castsand so forth.

Many of the aforementioned features may be implemented in various modesand in some cases selectable by the user to be automatic. For example,“continuous recording” may be a mode, whereby the preferred embodimentcontinuously records on one or more programming channels, overwritingthe oldest data as previously described. But this mode is selectable forthere might be situations where this is not desirable, such as setting atimer on the present invention to record a program at a specific time.Should the user arrive home much later than expected, the recordedprogram is still available, instead of being recorded over by the latestprogram.

And as another example, the aforementioned editing capabilities areconfigurable by the user, such as the “archive as edited” mode, in whichcontrol functions dictate an edited form of the program for archival.These functions and configurable options are all controlled throughanyone of several user-interface methods. In one embodiment, a remotecontrol and on-screen menus are used. In another embodiment, buttons onthe device are used, also in conjunction with on-screen menus. These andother user-interfaces are implemented alone or in combination, thusproviding access to all of the unique features described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in whichlike reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the use of buffer storage and its relationship to thecurrent time.

FIG. 2 illustrates the use of the buffer storage at a later time thanthat of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates the input, compression, storage, decompression, andoutput of content in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates the use of buffer storage 100 and its relationship tothe current time. Recording continues simultaneously during any of theseoperations, continuing at the position of the current real time asdepicted in the figure. Timeline 130 is depicted illustrating aparticular example from 8:00 to 10:00. Of course the times and durationsof this example are for illustrative purposes only and any time orduration may be used. Random access viewing position 100 represents thecurrent location within the recorded buffer from which viewing is takingplace. Buffer storage 110 illustrates the use of a 30-minute buffer andonce again, this is for illustrative purposes only and any duration maybe used. Similarly, archive storage 120 illustrates archive storage ofover two hours of recorded material.

In the example of FIG. 1, assume the viewer wishes to time-shift theirviewing by 15 minutes. With recorded material illustrated asgray-shaded, FIG. 1 shows the case at 8:15, whereby half of bufferstorage 110 has been filled with recorded material from 8:00 to 8:15.Only half the buffer is filled in this example because this figuredepicts the situation soon after present invention was initially turnedon. Once the buffer fills up it acts as a circular buffer, as describedpreviously. The underlying context shown in FIG. 1 corresponds with theexample set forth in section 3.3.

As depicted for buffer storage 110, within this buffer the user hascomplete VCR-like control such as rewind and fast-forward. So the viewermay begin playback of the 8:00 material and immediately has thecapability to fast-forward up to the contents of the current bufferwhich in the illustrative example is 8:15. Archive storage 120 maintainsan archived copy of all the recorded material.

FIG. 2 illustrates the use of the buffer storage at a later time thanthat of FIG. 1. This example depicts the situation at 9:00. In thiscase, buffer storage 210 is now filled with material which was recordedfrom 8:30 until 9:00 and the viewer has full VCR-like control over thisrange of time. All components of this figure, timeline 230 random accessviewing position 200, buffer storage 210, archive and storage 220 arefunctionally equivalent to the corresponding elements of FIG. 1. Also,the buffer storage and archive storage of both FIGS. 1 and 2 corresponddirectly to the storage in the block diagrams in FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 3 illustrates the input, compression, storage, decompression, andoutput of content in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. Analog input video source 300 is connected tocapture/compression card 320 which includes capture/compression hardware330 and decompression playback hardware 340. Storage input connection340 illustrates the writing of the compressed program data to storagedevice 380. Storage device 380 corresponds to the aforementioned bufferstorage and may also be used as archival storage.

For playback, storage output connection 350 transfers data from storagedevice 380 to decompression/playback hardware 360. During playback, viavideo out connection 310, the program is transferred to a standard videodevice (not shown) such as a TV, monitor or VCR. Recording directionarrow 370 is included to conceptually illustrate the use of storage 380as a circular buffer as explained previously.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the presentinvention. Housing 400 is an enclosure for the present invention,including necessary power supplies, casing, fans, buttons, power cordand connectors. These components are not depicted but arewell-understood in the design and manufacture of consumer (orprofessional-grade) electronics. Contained within this housing inaddition to the aforementioned basic components are: CPU 530,capture/display hardware 500, compression/decompression hardware 480,output display switch 470, network interface 550, I/O controller 570,system RAM 560, system bus 510, storage 580, removable storage 590,set-top-box switch 424, tuner bypass switch 426, capture bypass switch460, and input monitor switch 428. Also depicted but not included aspart of the present embodiment are external components set-top box 410,content provider 420, television 430, monitor 340, VCR 450,telecommunications connection 520, telecommunications cloud 490,workstation 595 and set-top box bypass switch 422.

Content provider 420 comprises, without limitation, over-the-airtelevision broadcasters, cable TV operators, satellite-feed providersand direct broadcast satellite (DBS) broadcasters. In some cases, theprogram material as made accessible to the user via set-top box 410instead of directly from content provider 420. Set-top box 410 may be acommon cable converter box or a digital video and user-interface box asused in upcoming cable and satellite services. The video format providedby both set-top box 410 and content provider 420 is most often astandard analog video signal and is routed to capture/display hardware500.

However, in some cases a digital video signals is provided and thereforethe capture (analog-to-digital conversion) ordinarily provided bycapture/display hardware 500 is not needed. Capture input switch 560 isprovided for such a circumstance and the input digital video is routeddirectly to compressor/decompressor 480. This switching may be automaticby the system, automatically controlled by the content provider orset-top box or it may be user-selectable.

In the case of an analog video input signal, the program must first beconverted to a digital format. Capture/display hardware 500 is a videocapture and playback card. Alternatively, this may be implemented in achipset form and integrated onto the main circuit board of the system.Capture/display boards are well-known in tile art. Current examplesinclude hardware MPEG capture/compression boards commonly used incomputer systems. Such boards often integrate the compression element ofthe present invention, compressor/decompressor 480, into the same boardfor a full capture, compression, decompression and playbackfunctionality. Such components may be used in the present invention toimplement both capture/display hardware 500 and compressor/decompressor480. Alternatively, separate boards may be used. However, any of thecapture, compression, decompression and display elements may beincorporated directly onto the main circuit board of the invention.

The capture and compression of the incoming video program, or theautomatic or user-selectable switching out of the capture element, areall managed under control of CPU 530 which is a conventionalmicroprocessor. Software running on CPU 530 manages the capture,compression and storage of the program. In doing so, it controls systembus 510, to which all major components are connected. In this manner,CPU 530 controls the I/O controller, which in turn is used to operatestorage 580 and removable storage 590.

Storage 580 may be implemented by one or more digital storage devicesfor buffer storage and/or archive storage as discussed previously.System RAM 560 is used as needed by the system for software executionand temporary data storage. The software controlling capture/display 500and compressor/decompressor 480 may use this as buffer memory. Inanother embodiment, compressor/decompressor 480 may be eliminatedentirely, with CPU 530 performing the compression/decompressionoperations in software, in which case compressor/decompressor 480 usessystem RAM 560 as buffer memory for such operations. In a similarembodiment, compressor/decompressor 480 may be eliminated with set-topbox 410 performing compression/decompression. In yet another embodiment,compressor/decompressor 480 and capture/display 500 may both beeliminated, with all of these functions being performed by set-top box410.

Storage 580 is implemented as any type of digital storage media. Thisincludes, without limitation, internal or external versions of harddisk, optical disk, DVD, magnetic tape and semi-conductor storage.Similar storage solutions may be implemented for removable media 590.Although only one storage device is depicted, more than one may be used.

Network interface 550 connects the device through network connection 520to telecommunications cloud 490. Telecommunications “cloud” is a termcommonly used to denote myriad inter-connected telecommunicationsconnection types and interfaces. It is essentially a superset of theInternet and may include networked computers, telephone lines, and othertelephone company equipment such as satellite, microwave and so forth.The portion of telecommunications cloud 490 to which the presentinvention is connected determines the type of network connection 520 andnetwork interface 550.

For example, in a home-based embodiment, network interface 550 is likelyto be a modem and telecommunications connection would be a telephoneline. Other examples include, without limitation, cable modems and cablenetworks, computer networks such as Ethernet and their associatedinterfaces, and satellite modems. The present invention is operativelyconnected through telecommunications cloud 490 to workstation 595.

Workstation 595 is any type of computer used by advertisers,broadcasters, ratings companies and so forth to receive indirectfeedback from viewers regarding viewing preferences. Data about theuser's viewing habits and use of the invention may, at the user'soption, be transmitted via network interface 550 through theaforementioned operative link to workstation 595.

Many options are available for implementing the simultaneous read andwrite of storage 580. Commonly-available hard disks may be used,depending on the data rate of the compressed data stream of thecapture/compression hardware. For example, if MPEG-1 video is used, onestream requires a data rate of 1.5 Mbits/sec. Therefore, tosimultaneously read and write, storage 580 must be capable of sufficientthroughput for one write stream and one read stream, totaling 3.0Mbits/sec. Such input/output speeds are well within the realm of currenthard drives, which can sustain data rates of over 10 Mbits/sec.

Other embodiments can use other solutions for storage 580. For example,some embodiments will record many channels simultaneously and may evenplay back more than one channel simultaneously to provide a‘picture-in-picture’ feature similar to current televisions. The totalrequired bandwidth may exceed the sustained data rates for conventionaldisk drives. In such a case RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks)systems may be used. These systems are disk array subsystems which useseveral disk drives in parallel to achieve faster overall throughput.Similarly, the present invention may simply incorporate individualdrives for each tuned channel RAM and other high-bandwidth storagesolutions may be also be used.

The ultimate use of the recorded data is in the playback. As the userviews programming through all the aforementioned features, the data isread from storage 580 or from removable media 590. This compressed datais routed to compressor/decompressor 480 for decompression under controlof CPU 530.

In some embodiments, the data may be in an uncompressed form andcompressor/decompressor 480 may be bypassed. Once the data isuncompressed, it may be routed directly to monitor 440 for viewing on adigital monitor such as those used by computer systems. Set-top box 410and/or television 430 may also be capable of accepting digital data ineither a compressed or uncompressed form and consequently data may berouted there directly.

In the preferred embodiment, the uncompressed digital data is routed tocapture/display 500 for conversion to an NTSC, PAL, SECAM or otherstandard video signal for viewing on one or more of the display devices,TV 430, monitor 440 or VCR 450.

Examples of Embodiments

Some of examples of certain embodiments described herein are, withoutlimitation, as follows. According to an embodiment, a method fortime-shifted viewing of broadcast audio/video programs comprises: thestep of receiving one or more broadcast audio/video programs; and thestep of storing said programs as data in a cyclic buffer wherein uponbeing filled said cyclic buffer begins replacing the oldest of said datawith the newest of said data; and the step of providing simultaneousplayback control of said data independently from said step of storingsaid programs wherein said playback control comprises random accessplay, stop, pause, rewind, and fast-forward functions; whereby saidtime-shifted viewing is selectably delayed relative to initiation ofsaid broadcast audio/video programs and which may be initiated andcontrolled simultaneously with said storing of said programs.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises the step of moving saidprogram data from the cyclic buffer to one or more storage devices forarchival of said program data; wherein sand one or more storage devicesare used for selective retrieval, playback, and control of saidprograms.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises the step of storing datarepresenting user-control of playback of said programs on one or morestorage devices; wherein said user-control playback data is stored forlater use.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises the step of transmittingsaid user-control playback data to one or more receivers; wherein saiduser-control playback data is processed externally from the presentsystem.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises the step of receivingbroadcast program configuration data; wherein said broadcast programconfiguration data is used for system configuration for one or moreparticular broadcast programs.

A system for time-shifted viewing of broadcast audio/video programscomprises, according to an embodiment: video input means for receivingone or more broadcast video/audio programs; and cyclic buffer means forstoring said programs as program data in a cyclical fashion wherein uponbeing filled said cyclic buffer begins replacing the oldest data withthe newest of said data and is operable for simultaneous reading andwriting of the said data; and viewing playback means for providingplayback control of said data independently from the storing of saidprograms wherein said playback control comprises random access playback,stop, pause, rewind, and fast-forward functions; whereby saidtime-shifted viewing is selectably delayed relative to initiation ofsaid broadcast audio/video programs and which may be initiated andcontrolled simultaneously with said storing of said programs.

In an embodiment, the system further comprises: archive means forsemi-permanent storage of said program data; whereby said archive meansis used as a save function for selective retrieval, playback and controlof program data.

In an embodiment, the system further comprises viewer playback controlcapture means for the capture and storage of user playback control data;whereby said viewer playback control data is stored on said archivemeans.

In an embodiment, the system further comprises data transmission meansfor transmitting said viewer playback control data away from saidsystem; wherein said viewer playback control data is analyzed externallyfrom said system.

In an embodiment, the system further comprises data reception means forreceiving broadcast program configuration data; wherein said broadcastprogram configuration data is operative for configuration of systemoptions of said system for the recording of one or more broadcastprograms.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, at a recordingdevice, video content from at least two video sources; capturing, at therecording device, video content received from each of the two videosources, the capturing including: writing a first compressed videostream to one or more storage devices, the first compressed video streamcomprising first video content received from a first video source, thefirst compressed video stream having a first data rate; writing a secondcompressed data stream to the one or more storage devices, the secondcompressed video stream comprising second video content received from asecond video source, the second compressed video stream having a seconddata rate that is different from the first data rate; based on the firstdata rate, the recording device responding to a first playback commandplaying back at least a first portion of the first compressed videostream, the playing back of the first portion comprising reading, by therecording device, the first portion from the one or more storage devicesat a first time subsequent to capturing the first portion; based on thesecond data rate, the recording device responding to a second playbackcommand by playing back at least a second portion of the secondcompressed video stream, the playing back of the second portioncomprising reading, by the recording device, the second portion from theone or more storage devices at a second time subsequent to capturing ofthe second portion.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first videosource is an Internet-based source received via a network connection ofthe recording device and the second video source is one of a broadcastsource, cable source, or satellite source received by a tuner of therecording device.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising capturingthe first compressed video stream concurrently with capturing the secondcompressed video stream.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprisingplaying back the first portion concurrently with playing back the secondportion.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the recordingdevice compressing the video content, and the recording deviceidentifying the first data rate and/or the second data rate forcompressing the video content based at least partially on a sustaineddata rate for writing to the one or more data storage device.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising the recording device compressingthe video content, and the recording device identifying values for oneor more configuration parameters for compressing the video content, theconfiguration parameters including one or more of: a video qualityparameter, a compression method parameter, and/or a video resolutionparameter; wherein the first data rate and/or the second data rate is afunction of the one or more configuration parameters.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the recording device compressing the videocontent, and the recording device adjusting a compression configurationparameter for the compressing, thereby affecting the first data rate orthe second data rate, based on a command received in the first videocontent or the second video content.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the recording device compressing the video content, and therecording device adjusting a compression configuration parameter for thecompressing, thereby affecting the first data rate or the second datarate, based on a command from a user operating the recording device. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein playing back the second portion occurswhile the recording device is still capturing the second compressedvideo stream.
 10. A system comprising: inputs configured to receivevideo content from at least two video sources; a capture subsystemconfigured to capture video content received from each of the two videosources by writing compressed video streams to one or more storagedevices, the compressed video streams including at least a firstcompressed video stream compressed at a first data rate and a secondcompressed video stream compressed at a second data rate that isdifferent than the first data rate; the one or more storage devices,configured to archive the captured video content; a playback controlmodule configured to respond to playback commands by reading portions ofcompressed video streams from the one or more storage devices at timessubsequent to the capture subsystem capturing the respective portionsand, based on corresponding data rates of the respective portions,playing back the respective portions.
 11. The system of claim 10,wherein the inputs include: a network interface configured to receivefirst video content from an Internet-based source of the two videosources; and a tuner configured to receive second video content from asecond video source of the two video sources, the second video sourcebeing one of a broadcast source, cable source, or satellite source. 12.The system of claim 10, wherein the capture subsystem is configured tocapture the first compressed video stream concurrently with capturingthe second compressed video stream.
 13. The system of claim 10, whereinthe playback control module is configured to play back a first portionof the first compressed video stream concurrently with playing back asecond portion of the second compressed video stream.
 14. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the capture subsystem is configured to compress thevideo content, and the system further comprises a configurationsubsystem configured to identify data rates for compressing the videocontent based at least partially on a sustained data rate for writing tothe one or more data storage device.
 15. The system of claim 10, whereinthe capture subsystem is configured to compress the video content, andthe system further comprises a configuration subsystem configured toidentify values for one or more configuration parameters for compressingthe video content, the configuration parameters including one or moreof: a video quality parameter, a compression method parameter, and/or avideo resolution parameter; wherein the first data rate and/or thesecond data rate is a function of the one or more configurationparameters.
 16. The system of claim 10, wherein the capture subsystem isconfigured to compress the video content, and the system furthercomprises a configuration subsystem configured to adjust a compressionconfiguration parameter for the compressing, thereby affecting the firstdata rate or the second data rate, based on a command received in thefirst video content or the second video content.
 17. The system of claim10, wherein the capture subsystem is configured to compress the videocontent, and the system further comprises a configuration subsystemconfigured to adjust a compression configuration parameter for thecompressing, thereby affecting the first data rate or the second datarate, based on a command from a user operating the recording device. 18.The system of claim 10, wherein the playback control module isconfigured to playing back a portion of a particular compressed videostream while the capture subsystem is still capturing the particularcompressed video stream.
 19. One or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by oneor more processors, cause performance of: receiving, at a recordingdevice, video content from at least two video sources; capturing, at therecording device, video content received from each of the two videosources, the capturing including: writing a first compressed videostream to one or more storage devices, the first compressed video streamcomprising first video content received from a first video source, thefirst compressed video stream having a first data rate; writing a secondcompressed data stream to the one or more storage devices, the secondcompressed video stream comprising second video content received from asecond video source, the second compressed video stream having a seconddata rate that is different from the first data rate; based on the firstdata rate, the recording device responding to a first playback commandplaying back at least a first portion of the first compressed videostream, the playing back of the first portion comprising reading, by therecording device, the first portion from the one or more storage devicesat a first time subsequent to capturing the first portion; based on thesecond data rate, the recording device responding to a second playbackcommand by playing back at least a second portion of the secondcompressed video stream, the playing back of the second portioncomprising reading, by the recording device, the second portion from theone or more storage devices at a second time subsequent to capturing ofthe second portion.
 20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia of claim 19, wherein the first video source is an Internet-basedsource received via a network connection of the recording device and thesecond video source is one of a broadcast source, cable source, orsatellite source received by a tuner of the recording device.